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Cannabis sativa L. contains more than 420 different constituents. Sixty-one of these constituents are cannabinoids. The electron voltage selected ion monitoring technique was used in the study of this unique group on natural compounds. Mass spectra of each compound were recorded at various eV settings (5.5-21 eV). The electron voltage selected ion recordings were obtained by plotting the relative intensities of characteristic fragment ions against electron voltage. The method was proven useful in the structure analysis of cannabinoids since it requires only minute quantities of sample. It was possible to recognize homologs and to differentiate positional and double bond isomers as well as cannabinoids with the same molecular weight.

Marijuana is not a plant. It is a crude drug made from the Cannabis plant. Many other crude drugs are also made from this plant. Their chemical composition varies with the plant parts used in producing the particular drug. This paper describes the chemical composition of Cannabis, the uses to which these chemicals are put in the manufacture of crude drugs, and the effects of these drugs.

A spectrophotometric method used to test for paraquat in 160 confiscated marijuana samples is described. Twenty of these samples (12.5 per cent) tested positive for paraquat. Nine confiscated hash oil samples tested negative. The identification of paraquat was proven by isolation, chromatography, and spectral methods. The cannabinoids in paraquat positive Cannabis samples were analysed.

Cannabiripsol [(-) (6aR, 9S, 10S, 10aR)9,10-dihydroxy-hexahydrocannabinol] (1), a new cannabinoid was isolated from a South African Cannabis variant. The structure was determined by spectral means and by synthesis.

A method for the determination of encapsulated d-limonene dimercaptan (d-LDM), a possible marker for Cannabis sativa L. sprayed with herbicide, has been developed. The methodology includes a single-step extraction, followed by gas chromatography with flame photometric detector (FDP) using n-octadecyl mercaptan (n-octadecylthiol) as an internal standard. A liner relationship was obtained from spiked samples with an average coefficient of variation of 9.0 per cent. The method has been used to determine part-per-million levels of LDM in actual field experiments in Mexico. The FDP limit was found to be 7 ng for d-LDM.

Synthetic and naturally occurring cannabidiol and cannabichromene were distinctly separated without derivation by GLC using a 6% OV-1 column; an artifact of cannabichromene, cannabicyclol, was separated from (minus)-delta9-trans-tetrahydrocanna-bivarin. This procedure is versatile and applicable for the quantitation of Cannabis containing both cannabidiol and cannabichromene. Biological interaction among (minus)-delta9-trans-tetrhydrocanabinol, cannabichromene, and other cannabinoids in natural Cannabis preparations can now be studied. In the phenyl methyl silicone polymer series, cannabidiol precedes ca-nabichromene on columns containing below a 50% phenyl-to-methyl ratio. Columns containing below a 50% phenyl-to-methyl ratio. Columns containing a 50:50 or greater ratio of phenyl to methyl reverse the separation order with cannabichromene preceding cannabidiol.

Two new dihydrostilbene compounds (named cannabistilbenes I and II) were isolated from a polar acidic fraction of a Panamanian variant of Cannabis sativa grown in Mississippi. The structure of cannabistilbene I was shown to be 3,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-3'-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-dihydrostilben e (1) from spectral data which was confirmed by synthesis. There is spectral evidence to indicate that cannabistilbene II could be represented by either structure 3 or 4.

An ethanol extract of the root of a Mexican variant of Cannabis sativa L.(marijuana) afforded, after partitioning and chromatography, the new spermidine alkaloid cannabisativine.

Three spiro-compounds, namely cannabispiran, dehydrocannabispiran and beta-cannabispiranol, and 2 dihydrostilbenes [3-(2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl)-5-methoxyphenol and canniprene] were isolated from a polar fraction of a Panamanian variant of Cannabis sativa L. grown in Mississippi, United States of America. The plant material was extracted with 95% ethanol and the dried ethanol extract was then partitioned between chloroform and water. The chloroform fraction was fractionated between hexane and 3N sodium hydroxide solution. Acidification of the basic fraction followed by extraction with ether afforded a polar acidic fraction from which the above-mentioned compounds were isolated through repeated chromatography. The structures of the above compounds were determined by spectral means as well as by comparison with reference samples. The isolation of two dihydrostilbenes and three spiro-indan compounds from a single variant provides good support that the dihydrostilbenes are the natural precursors to the spiro-indan compounds.

Ethanol extracts of the leaves and roots of a Mexican variant of Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana) afforded, after partitioning and chromatography, the new spermidine alkaloid, anhydrocannabisativine. The structure was determined by spectral analysis and semisynthesis.

Synthetic (--)-delta 9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol impregnated on placebo Cannabis decomposed only 6.3% after being stored for 1 year at --18 degrees. Storage at 5 degrees and room temperature under various conditions led to severe decomposition. The amount of cannabinol observed when (--)-delta 9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol decomposed indicates that cannabinol is not the only decomposition product.

The structures of 2 new polyhydroxylated cannabinoids, (+/-)9,10-dihydroxy-delta6a(10a)-tetrahydrocannabinol and (+/-)8,9-dihydroxy-delta6a(10a)-tetrahydrocannabinol, obtained from a hexane extract of an Indian Cannabis variant were determined by spectral means and correlation with cannabinol.